|
|
Thomas Tew was a licensed privateersman from Rhode Island, though most people knew that he was a pirate. Little is known about him prior to 1692 when he arrived Bermuda and purchased a share in the sloop "Amnity". From there, he got the additional owners of the sloop interested in taking on a privateering commission from Bermuda Governor Isaac Richier. Together with the Royal African Company, they were to attack the French factory at Goori, in Gambia. Tew and his crew instead chose to sail off to the Red Sea where they attacked an Indian ship which they found to be very profitable. Some of the crew then sailed off on their own. Tew followed them, trying to persuade them to return to Libertalia, a pirate colony supposedly founded by Tew and French Captain James Mission. The crew refused to return, and while Tew argued with them, his ship was lost in a sudden storm. He was rescued by the ship Bisoux, and managed to make his way back to America. He settled in Rhode Island, but eventually was lured back to piracy. He took command of a pirate ship and sailed off to the Red Sea. He was killed in June of 1695 while attacking a large ship belonging to the Great Mogul of India.
|
